The DDBTRCC Translational Research Enhancement Core (Core D) has as its goal to make translating basic research findings made by the Core Center Research Base and other JHUSOM investigators easier and more efficient to achieve. The JHUSOM GI Division had been carrying out translational research involving human tissues ofthe GI tract but without an organized structure. In November 2006, the GI Division established the concept of a tissue repository with the understanding that the uniform and standardized harvest of biospecimens with associated, comprehensive clinical and epidemiological data would greatly facilitate and improve the study of gastrointestinal disease processes. The two main components of this repository were the Clinical Research Unit to record the clinical data and the Tissue Bank which holds the patient DNA, RNA and tissue specimens. Combined, these two integrated units provide a cost-effective, efficient centralized tissue banking system to provide high quality, clinical data-associated specimens to multiple users for individual research projects and for fostering collaborations among multiple users. Support for Core D partially supports the Core Director who is the JHUSOM faculty member who is most knowledgeable about tissue repositories as well as a technician who helps obtain and process the biological specimens for our Research Base. Initial support is only for projects by our Research Base which are hypothesis driven, IRB approved and extramurally funded. This Core will provide the infrastructure for the cost-effective tissue and clinical data collection that meets Best Practices through the establishment of uniform Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to promote scientific advances by and scientific interactions among Core users, collaborative investigators and young investigators, without each investigator having to invest in the equipment/resources or individually work out specific SOPs.